The Killing Circle
by Usher
Summary: Logan and Kitty end up in a position they cannot escape, captives in a place where the only chance to live is for someone else to die.When Kitty steps into the Killing Circle, she finds that her opponent is someone she never expected. Will Jubilee survive
1. Chapter 1

Logan watched through the bars as Kitty began to limber up, and wondered for the umpteenth time, just how they had gotten into this mess. He was fine. Well, better off than Kitty. He was exempt from fighting…after the first one, their captors had realised that Logan was a killing machine and more than a match for the rest of their captives. He spent most of his days in his cage at the side of the ring, Listening to the dying screams of the defeated with the rest. He was kept well fed…they wanted to keep him in condition at least until they could find a decent match for him.

"You gonna be ok?"

Kitty shrugged, adjusting the horrible Genoshian collar around her neck.

"I'm sure it will be nothing I can't handle, Logan. It's not my first time in the ring…and god willing, it won't be my last."

Logan nodded and reached through the bars to give her a reassuring hug. "You will be fine, darlin'. Rip 'em to shreds. Go for the eyes. No mercy."

"No mercy." Kitty sighed, squaring her shoulders as the front of the cage shot up. She knew she was lucky to have Logan beside her. They probably should have been separated, but the jailors had found out that a pissed off wolverine was a dangerous wolverine.

OOOoooOOO

Kitty walked out into the bright sunlight, squinting in the brightness. Her opponent had been let out at the same time as her, and had immediately taken up a defensive position. But as their eyes readjusted to the light, her opponent faltered.

"Pride…" Came the whisper, and a bolt of fear shot through Kitty's heart when she heard the voice. Around the ring, cameras were trained on them, beaming the footage up to a satellite that in turn sent the images to those with enough money and blood lust to watch…and below them, the other fighters calling for blood. Only one fighter was gripping the cell bars tightly, screaming No! in a voice that would rend tears from the hardest man's eyes.

"Jubilee…?" Kitty took a step forwards and looked back to the cage holding Logan.

"NO! Don't do this! Please!" Logan wrestled with the bars, trying his hardest to break through.

"Never thought it would come to this, Pride." Jubilee let her hands drop to her sides, as did Kitty, ignoring the taunts from the crowd.

"I know, Lee. We always battled for Logan's attention…now are we to do it for our lives?"

Jubilee's body jerked as a wave of electricity passed through her, making her scream with the pain, as the guards punished her for not fighting.

"It's death one way or another, Kit-kat. One of us or both of us is gonna die. Either by their hands or our own. And if it's gonna be me…good luck." Jubilee slowly got back to her knees, rubbing her neck.

"FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" a chant had sprung up around the crowd, and Kitty nodded.

"Hug first. No…no blame…"

"…no shame." Kitty murmured, and hugged Jubilee close, tears spilling down her face. Jubilee held her tightly. "Say goodbye to Wolvie for me." She whispered, pulling away to look Kitty in the face. Her bright blue eyes were filled with sadness. She knew the fate that awaited her. She was smaller than Kitty, lighter and younger. She hadn't been as well trained in the arts of hand-to-hand fighting. Sure, she'd had some training from Logan, Remy, Scott and the others…but her training had been sparse and interrupted by attacks and in the end, by being sent to the Frost Academy. And she was injured from when they had taken her. If they did fight…she would die. If they didn't fight, they would both be killed…executed for the cameras. They had come to see a death, and a death they must have.

Stepping back from each other, they both put their hands to their hearts, giving a small bow.

"Love ya Pride. Now come and get some ass whoop. And give Wolvie a kiss for me when I'm gone."

The black shield went up around them, blocking all sight and sound other than the dirt circle they were standing in, signalling the start of the fight and blocking the view of the other captives.

Logan slumped down in the cell, horrified as the two girls he regarded as his daughters faced off for a fight to the death.

"You know both of 'em?" The guard outside his cage asked, curious. Logan had never shown much interest for any of the fights before.

"They're my daughters." He explained brokenly. "My goddamned daughters!" he shook the cage again, letting out a feral roar. "You sick bastards! Don't let them…don't let them do this!"

OOOoooOOO

"Is everyone in position?" Nick Fury whispered into his radio. The area was now swarming with SHIELD troops, both X-men teams, Excalibur, Alpha flight, and various other superheroes who had joined the fight. Once they had realised who had taken Kitty and Logan, they had all seen the chance to finally put a stop to the Camarian Killing Circle. The telepaths, working together had managed to find Kitty's psi signature and had tracked it to a small island in the Pacific.

"Affirmative."

"Move in."

"There's a fight in progress." Scott murmured into his communicator.

"Don't bother with that right now. The guards are putting up resistance on the west front." Storm murmured from her vantage point high above them.

In the end, it was a swift battle, and to everyone's amazement, most guards surrendered without a murmur, handing over their weapons. Only a few die-hards fought to the death, and most of Nick's men managed to take care of them.

The different teams re-formed and met up outside the arena.

"Look for Logan and Kitty." Scott ordered Rogue and Bobby. "Bruce, can you shut that down?" He pointed to the black shield. Batman nodded and went to look for the control panel, joined by Reed Richards and Bruce Banner.

"He's over there." Jean opened her eyes and she, Rogue and Bobby ran to the far side of the arena, to where Logan's bloody hands were still struggling with the bars.

"Logan!" Jean exclaimed, putting her hand out to stop Bobby and Rogue. "He's in a rage…it's not safe." She warned as Rogue nodded, seeing the madness in his eyes.

He growled wildly and hurled himself at the bars again.

"Do you know what's gotten into him?" Jean asked the man in the next cell. The weedy man got up from the ground and walked over to the front of the cell, making sure to keep out of reach of the now feral Canadian Mutant.

"Not too sure, sweetheart. He was screaming something about his daughters?" He shrugged awkwardly.

"Jean, Batman has found the control room. He's shutting the shield down now." Scott's voice echoed out of her communicator badge. Rogue glanced over her shoulder as the shield flickered and then finally died.

"Jean!" Rogue spun her friend around, pointing into the ring.

Two figures were in the middle of the ring, both dressed from head to toe in midnight black. And one was very definitely Kitty. She was kneeling on her opponent's chest, both hands wrapped tightly around her neck.

"Kitty, stop!" Jean cried out, running forwards. "It's over, you are free! Stop!" she screamed, finally getting through to Kitty's adrenalin fuelled brain.

As they approached, Kitty slowly and carefully took her hands from around her opponents neck and stared down at them. Jean's heart froze as Kitty looked up at her, horror written across her face, and she looked back down, giving a sob.

"I had to, Jean." She whispered numbly, sliding off the prone figure's chest. "It was either that, or both of us…I'm sorry…I couldn't…"

Jean's feet raised puffs of dust as she slid to a halt beside her, falling to her knees.

Outside the stadium, heads rose as a devastated scream rose up into the air, followed by another, and then another.

Nick thrust a clip board into a subordinates hands and ran inside, joining others as they hurried towards the sound of the scream. He faltered when he saw Jean pumping on a black clad figure's chest as Bobby carefully inflated it's lungs.

"Tell me that's not Kitty." He whispered to Remy.

"Non. Kitty is standing beside them…I don't know who that is…"

OOOoooOOO

"Damnit, breathe!" Jean shouted, pounding on Jubilee's chest.

"Jean…" Bobby murmured brokenly between breaths. "I think she's gone."

"No!" Rogue shouted, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. "She can't be gone. Keep going. Keep going!"

Suddenly Jubilee's chest heaved as she drew in a ragged breath. Jean pulled her upright and held her close, kissing her head.

"Thank God…oh, thank God." She clung her tightly to her, rocking her back and forth, tears streaming down her face as Nick and Remy reached them, Scott not far behind.

"Kitty, it's good to see you still alive." Scott said breathlessly as he reached them. "What's wrong, Jean? Who is that?"

"I killed her." Kitty said brokenly, turning away from them, her hands turning into fists at her side. "I killed her. She was dead. It would have been my fault…" Tears were streaming down her face as she spoke, and she angrily shook Scott's hand off her shoulder.

"Damnit, who is it?" Nick shouted, torn between going back to work, or attending to the strange drama unfolding in front of him.

"It's Jubilee!" Bobby half-shouted, rubbing his face with his hands. "It's Jubilee." He said more softly, sitting on the dust with a thump. "What the hell is she doing here?" He asked with a mixture of rage and the remnants of the terrible fear that had gripped his heart when he had seen just who Kitty had been fighting. "She's supposed to be in college!"

Trying to compose herself, Jean gently laid Jubilee's limp body back on the ground, smoothing the hair back from her face. Tentatively, she attempted to reach into Jubilee's mind. After a few moments she shook her head, still unable to break through the girls shields.

"Kitty, I need you to answer me. What did you do to her besides strangling her?" Jean asked, still not meeting Kitty's eyes.

"I…I don't know. The fight was so…mad…we both were landing kicks and punches all over the place. It was so manic…we both knew one of us had to die, but…we were afraid…didn't want to kill each other…" Kitty said brokenly as Storm landed behind her, dragging her into her arms.

"Sweetheart, I thought I would find you dead." She murmured, and blinked in astonishment as Kitty burst into heart-rending sobs.

"Get her out of here, Ororo." Scott ordered quickly. "Take her somewhere quiet. Go to the Med Tent and have her checked out. Rogue, go with them…explain it to her." he finished more gently. Ororo looked confused, but did as she was told, scooping Kitty up and rising up into the sky.

"Jean…?"

Jean was examining her carefully. "She has broken ribs. Punctured lung…I'm not sure what else, and I won't until I get her somewhere more suitable."

Nick gave a sharp nod and walked a few steps away, speaking quietly into his radio.

"There's a med-lift on it's way. It will land in the stadium and bring you straight to the HQ."

Jean nodded gratefully. Looking up above the structure that surrounded them, she saw a small black spot getting closer in the sky, swooping down out of the glare from the sun. The chopper was already approaching.

OOOoooOOO

"Med-evac chopper is on it's way, Dr. McCoy. It's got one of the captive fighters on it. Not in good shape. There was a fight in progress when the attack began." A soldier shouted in the door to where Hank was assessing the injuries on a soldier.

"There now. That's not too bad. Just a straight break. Now, if you would go with this beautiful nurse here and be good, she will put a cast on it for you."

Sending the soldier off, he turned back to the messenger. "What type of injuries?" He asked crisply, stripping off his gloves and beginning to set out a tray of things he might need.

"They didn't say, but the order for the chopper came straight from Colonel Fury, sir." His tone indicated that this in itself was unusual, and that Hank should possibly prepare himself for something odd.

As it was, Hank was not prepared for the look on Jean's face as she ran inside the room ahead of the gurney, grabbing a pair of gloves crying out 'It's Jubilee.'

OOOoooOOO

Nick stood surrounded by now empty cages, staring in at Logan as he gripped the bars.

"Are you calm yet?" He asked mildly. Logan gave a small growl, his eyes narrowing.

"Let me out of here, Fury, before you lose your other eye."

"That will do." Nick murmured, unlocking the door and stepping back.

"Where are they?" He snapped, slamming the door open.

"Kitty is in the Med-tent with Rogue and Storm. She's ok. A bit battered and bruised."

"Jubilee?"

Nick took a deep breath. "She's at HQ. Jean and Hank are taking care of her."

"yeah, but how is she?"

Nick took another breath, trying to work out the most tactful way to say what was to come.

"When they got to them, Jubilee wasn't breathing. Jean and Bobby managed to revive her. She's in good hands, Logan."

Logan nodded. "Where's the med-tent?" He murmured, flexing his hands. Nick silently led the way through the hordes of SHIELD men that filled the area, all standing around looking both menacing and aware.

"They're in here." Scott murmured, lifting the tent flap. Nick stood watching warily as Logan stalked inside, unsure of how things were going to pan out. He gave a silent sigh of relief as Logan pulled Kitty off the gurney where she was sitting and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Storm and Rogue were talking quietly in the corner, and Storm rose to her feet as Logan walked inside.

Kitty managed to stop crying, holding onto him tightly.

"Do you want to go to her?" He asked after she had stopped shaking. Kitty nodded dumbly and allowed him to lead her outside.

"Storm, take her. Rogue, will you…?"

"You don't even have to ask, sugah." Rogue murmured, levitating slightly and lifting him beneath his arms.

OOOoooOOO

Bobby was sitting outside the operating room when they arrived, holding his head in his hands. Storm was helping Kitty walk, her own badly bruised ribs giving her trouble.

"They've been in there half an hour." He said tiredly. "No news…" he gave a small helpless shrug. Kitty bit back a whimper as she slid down the wall beside him and rested her head against his shoulder as he gingerly wrapped his arm around her.

"Kid'll be ok, Kitty. You'll see. She's strong."

Kitty sniffed and nodded. "I know…but every time I close my eyes, I see her…I see my hands…" Tears streamed down her face once more. "And I see her when she saw my face…the horror…she…she told me to say good bye to you, Logan. And that she loved you."

Wolverine's head dropped and he turned on his heel and walked away, his emotions conflicting and bouncing off each other so much that he didn't know what to do.

OOOoooOOO

"Thank you all for coming." Nick murmured, putting the folder down onto the table.

"We're not all here, Nick." Heather Hudson murmured, massaging her shoulder. "The X-men are missing…all the X-men are missing?" She frowned and looked around her, seeing that others were doing the same.

"They won't be coming." Nick murmured, and immediately launched into a dissection of the assault.

"I take it that Logan and Katchen were found?" Kurt asked as he fell silent. Nick gave a brief nod.

"Logan was found in the cages. Kitty….Kitty was in the fight we interrupted." Around Kurt, the eyes of the various teams narrowed. Kitty being badly wounded would be a good enough reason for none of the X-men to be present. Kurt found himself becoming angry that they hadn't contacted him. Kitty, after all, was a member of Excalibur, not the X-men.

"She is fine. However, her opponent was badly injured…was not breathing when they reached them. She was med-evaced here…"

"What are you leaving out, Nick?" Bruce Wayne asked flatly, sensing something horrible was about to be told.

"It was Jubilee. They set Jubilee and Kitty against each other. Jean and Hank are operating on her now."

The room went into a sudden uproar, Kurt bamfing out of the room in a cloud of black smoke, adding to the confusion.

"Whaddya mean Jubilee! I thought she was in college!" Bruce slammed his hand against the desk.

"Hey, do I look like the guy with the answers!" Nick shouted back. "Jesus, I haven't seen the kid since she was sixteen! How the hell am I supposed to know where she is or was or is supposed to be?"

"Kitty and Jubilee…now that's a fight I'd pay good money to see." Came a deep rumble from the corner, the words earning Hellboy a slap on the arm from Heather Hudson. Realising what he had said, the huge red demon hunkered down sheepishly in his chair.

"Kid gonna be ok?" He asked finally as the others looked around them in shock.

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. Jean and Hank are working on her now."

OOOoooOOO

A pair of eyelids fluttered open, revealing a pair of brilliant blue eyes. They trailed slowly around their surroundings before finally settling on two people sitting by the bed. One's head was thrown back as a snore rumbled through the room. The other's head was lying on the sheet just beside her hand.

Jubilee weakly moved her hand and brushed Kitty's hair away from her face, gently trailing a finger over the stitches that ran along her forehead, careful not to touch off them in case she woke the sleepers.

"Thank god." She whispered, letting her eyes slide closed. Everyone she loved was in the room, and were alive. That was all she ever wanted. Her family by her side, alive and well.

**I am very sorry for the bad ending, but I have never been able to finish this to my satisfaction. Some day, I might be able to finish it properly, but 2 years on I'm giving up and posting as it is. If anyone has any advice, or ideas on how to end it, feel free to advise….**


	2. Chapter 2

Kitty frowned in her sleep as she felt something brush her forehead. Opening her eyes, she realised that Jubilee's hand was now resting on her hair, almost like she was giving her blessing.

"Jubilee?" She murmured muzzily, moving carefully so as not to dislodge the hand too forcefully. Reaching out with her other hand, she grabbed Logan by the arm and shook him. "Jubilee, are you awake? Jubes?"

"Whut?" Logan shot awake and thrust Kitty out of his way, making her stumble back towards the wall.

"Logan, she woke up." Kitty murmured, rubbing her now tender wrist, bruised from his impatience. "Her hand was on the top of my head. That mean's she's getting better, right?"

Logan ignored her, leaning over the bed. "Jubes, baby, come on. Open your eyes for me."

But there was nothing. No movement to indicate that Jubilee was alive in there, let alone awake. The machines scattered around the bedside continued to beep, as they had since she had been wheeled out of the operating room, two very worried doctors by her side.

"Katchen, you need to rest." Kurt murmured from the doorway, holding out his hand to her. "Jean is getting worried about you, and you were injured too."

Kitty looked back at the bedside reluctantly, but allowed him to pull her from the room. When she got outside, she realised that the long corridor in the SHIELD command ship was littered with people either standing or sitting on the floor, all staring quietly at the room she had just come out of. All were waiting to hear of news.

"I think she woke up." Kitty murmured, stopping by Bobby and putting her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, his eyes hopeful.

"Did she say anything?"

Wordlessly, Kitty shook her head. "No. I was asleep. She'd put her hand on my head. I don't know. It 's a good sign, right?"

Bobby gripped her hand tightly and nodded, instinctively knowing that Kitty needed to hear it from someone. "It's a good sign Kitty. Go get some sleep."

When she had disappeared down the corridor, he looked around at the others, daring them to contradict him. The only one that would meet his eyes was Hellboy, an unlit cigar in his hand. His face was expressionless, but he jerked his head towards the viewing platform at the end of the hall.

The wind whipped at their faces and clothes as they looked down at the clouds far below. Hellboy leant on the railing and stared out.

"Kid-"

"I know, Hellboy."

"But-"

"She needs to hear that right now. She needs to know she didn't kill her."

"But the kid was dead. You said so yourself. You had to give her mouth to mouth. She died three times on the table. And you heard what Hank said."

"Hank's been known to be wrong!" Bobby's fist crashed down on the metal, and Hellboy was surprised to see the metal dimple beneath the suddenly iced-up fist.

"That is true." He admitted carefully, puffing on the cigar. "But it's hard for someone to survive when they've been hurt that bad. I must admit though, Kitty wasn't strong enough to have done all that. I guess you are right...she didn't kill her. But she had a pretty part in helping kill the kid."

"She's not dead yet! Jubes is a fighter. She'll fight this." Bobby repeated stubbornly, ignoring the wetness on his cheeks.

"She'll fight it till the bitter end. Just prepare yourself, Bobby. That's all I'm saying."

Bobby's hands tightened on the railing and he bowed his head. The giant red demon stepped back and let the youngster battle with his feelings, keeping a silent watch.

Three floors above them, Nick Fury watched them silently, the fingers of one hand tapping against the railing of his command post.

"What did Hank say?"

Scott looked at him finally, coming to stand beside him with his arms folded.

"If she makes it through the night, she should have a chance. Please god she does." Scott admitted. "Do we even know how she was taken?"

Fury turned his back on the large sloped window and looked around the half-empty room, letting his eyes rest on each soldier manning it's station. "I'm trying to contact the guys I had tailing her. They should have reported it, Goddamnit!" He thumped the railing with his fist and glared at Scott. "We should have known she was gone minutes after she was taken! Those bastards weren't doing their jobs, Summers…she was hurting before Kitty managed to lay a single touch on her. But who is to say which was the killing blow? Was it Kitty, or was Jubilee doomed before-"

"She's not dead yet!" Scott snapped to his feet and grabbed Fury by the collar. Across the room, Reed Richards slowly stood along with several other men, SHELD and mutant alike. Tension was thick in the air, and Reed watched nervously as several soldiers placed their hands on their side-arms.

"Easy, there." He murmured, putting his hands between both of them and gently prising Scott's hands from Fury's clothing.

"If we had gone when I had said, this wouldn't be happening!" Scott protested, the ruby strip on his visor glowing angrily. "One day extra you asked – one day extra that means one of our people is lying in a hospital bed. And another thinks she's killed her. God, Fury! You knew that to delay would cause extra lives to be lost-"

"SCOTT!" Reed barked out. "Go outside. Now!"

"You are not my-"

"Scott, come with me." Scott jumped a mile when his wife's voice came from by his shoulder. When had she come in? Reed nodded gratefully as she tugged at his arm and drew him away, and once the chief instigator had left, the other soldiers in the room relaxed, taking their hands from their weapons and going back to their posts.

"It wasn't my fault." Fury murmured to no one in particular. "My superiors wouldn't let me…this isn't my fault." He watched Reed give him a worried look before returning to the machine he had been examining and then turned to look out the window once more. In the silence, he whispered to himself, "This is my fault."

OOOoooOOO

"Scott, leave Nick alone." Jean cornered him out in the corridor, trying to get him to look at her.

"I…leave me alone, Jean. You weren't there. You don't know."

Jean looked at him in astonishment, unsure she had heard what he had just said properly. "Excuse me, Scott? But did you just say I wasn't there? So, that wasn't me giving her CPR? That wasn't me and Bobby keeping her alive on the killing floor?"

"That's not what I meant!" He protested, calming down when he saw the dangerous glint in her eyes. "I didn't mean that. Or then. I meant when Fury was asking his superiors to let him assist us take down the Camarian's. He didn't fight for it. It was just another mission to him."

"Because he knew Logan and Kitty could take care of themselves." Jean added. Scott nodded. "It's not his fault that he didn't know Jubilee was in there. None of us knew."

"We should have." Scott crossed his arms again, his jaw set. "We should have known she was missing. We knew Logan and Kitty were gone less than 12 hours after they were taken. We would never have known that she was gone, or who had taken her. Would we?"

Jean paused before answering. She didn't want to say it, but he was right. "No. We probably wouldn't have known until it was time for her to come home for the summer."

"Jean…she is one of ours…one of our family. And we just let her go."

Once more, Jean kept her own council. On one hand, she was afraid to speak, in case she just made things worse. And on the other hand, he was voicing the argument that had been going on in her brain since the moment the core men had taken her out of the OR.

"Fury had men watching her." She murmured finally, keeping her eyes on his chest, afraid to look at his face.

"Fat lot of good that did. Look where she is now." He whispered softly, taking a deep breath and rubbing his face. Pressing his lips tightly together, he shook his head and pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her in a comforting hug. "If she…when she gets better, Jean, she isn't leaving the damned mansion again. She can do distance learning. Hank can tutor her. But she isn't leaving our sight."

Jean raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Scott…you'd kick her out within a week. She'd drive you _crazy_."

Scott chuckled and nodded. "True…but at least we'd know she was safe…"


	3. Chapter 3

Dimly, in the back of her mind, she became aware of a distant beeping. Steady and rhythmic, it should have been soothing, but it wasn't. There was something about it that set her muzzy brain on edge. It was a familiar sound…why would such an innocent thing as a beep make her so uncomfortable…?

After a decade of thinking…or perhaps just a few moments, her eyes slid open and she groaned. It was a heart monitor. She knew she'd hated that noise. If you could hear it, it wasn't a good sign…or it was. Either way, it meant that something bad had happened.

But she couldn't really feel anything. Nothing at all. Except that she was floating. "Floatie floatie floatie."

In a chair a couple of feet away from the bed, Fury glanced up from the manila file he had been going through and saw a pair of dazed blue eyes staring up at the ceiling.

"Welcome back." He murmured, closing the file. He leant closer to the bed, trying to keep the familiar sternness at bay.

Her eyes slid down from the ceiling to focus on his face. Or at least half focus. "Are you with me?" he asked carefully, standing up and coming to stand beside the bed.

"Possibly?" She hazarded a guess and he bit back a smile seeing just how glazed her eyes were. "Are there any pink elephants in the room?"

Fury's nose twitched slightly and he shook his head. "No, kid. No pink elephants. Just a beat-up old Colonel and a kid who should have known better."

He watched her forehead crease as her drug addled brain attempted to work out what he just said. After a few seconds she let out a squeak of protest and narrowed her eyes at him. "Hey! I do know better! Did you say that to Pride an' Wolvie? Jus' cos I'm a captive audience-" She yawned widely. "I don' go aroun' askin' fer trouble…trouble jus' finds me…"

Fury snorted and shook his head. "Kid…" He shook his head again, falling silent. "What happened?"

"I'm going to guess that Pride beat the crap out of me. At least from what I can remember she did." Jubilee answered with another yawn, her eyes closed. "Me and _my_ pride are going to take a lot of time to get over that. But I was already injured…do you think that counts point wise?"

She listened to the silence and opened one eye a crack. Fury was standing with his arms folded across his chest, the eyebrow above the eye patch raised high. "Kid, don't try my patience. I've got too many DNA challenged, testosterone filled idiots on my base ship right now, and they are all demanding to know what happened to you. So, what happened?"

She sighed and closed her eyes again, wondering if she feigned sleep would she get away with it. Fury cleared his throat and she sighed.

"Fine. I got jumped coming back from the gym at college. They were waiting for me near my apartment. I tried to fight 'em off…but then I got tasered, drugged and collared in about 3 seconds flat. There were too many of 'em and they knew what they were doing. I don't like getting tasered, Fury. It sucks big time. Messes up with my body chemistry so I don't know what's up and what's down." She sighed again and looked around the room with disinterested eyes. "After that they didn't even need the inhibitor collar…" After that little declaration, her eyes slid closed again and she drifted off to float in the darkness.

Fury shook his head, angry that they had taken the kid so easily. Well, not easily. Her battered body could attest to that. No matter how good Shadowcat was at fighting, there was no way she could inflict all those injuries on the girl.

Sitting back down on his chair, he absently rubbed his thumb over the name on the file he had been reading. He'd requested it a few days before, when Jubilee had been transferred to the medical wing on the base ship. The name on the folder was hers, but facts and figures never gave a complete picture. To have that, you would need to know the person. And to a degree, he did. Ever since Logan had introduced him to the loud mouthed little bratling he had kept tabs on her. Especially when she had jacked it all in to go to College and have a "normal life". Ruefully, he admitted that that was probably the reason why he was so angry at the fact she had been abducted. Taken from right beneath the noses of two of his agents.

Looking back down at the file his lips firmed again and he wondered just how much of it was complete fabrication. Both men were being brought in for a 'debriefing'. In reality, Fury was half considering just locking them in a room with Wolverine and letting them explain just why, when asked that morning, they had said that Jubilee was having coffee with one of her close friends from College. A mean feat for someone who was lying unconscious in a SHIELD medical facility.

So now, there she lay on the hospital bed, buck naked aside from the carefully arranged strips of sheeting that protected her modesty, and the bandages that covered the wounds and the incisions the doctors had had to make to save her life. Her skin was mottled with bruises, and tilting his head to the side, he began to make out the boot prints and impressions that fists had made on her delicate skin.

"So, what happened?"

Her eyes had opened again and she was staring at him. An unconscious blush flooded his cheeks as he realised she had caught him staring at her and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair before standing and moving closer to the bed.

"When the X-men realised that Kitty and Logan had been taken, and by who, we organised a full scale rescue. It took a lot of effort to find them – the telepaths had to track them through the psi-plane. Not an easy task. Then we came and attacked the compound. There was a bit of resistance, but we took them easily enough. Majority of them surrendered without firing their weapons once. None of the organisers were here though. But we have enough leads to track them down and prosecute. The bone yard out the back will give enough evidence to make sure they never get out of jail."

Jubilee watched him fidget with the edge of one of her sheets and she gave a tired sigh. "Nobody even knew I was missing." It wasn't a question, more of a statement, and it was a statement that Fury didn't want to touch with a ten foot pole.

"Fury, I may be on enough pain meds to knock out a bull elephant, but I'm not that dumb. I may not have cut off all contact with my friends…but it's not like anyone was killing themselves to keep in contact with me since I left. I wonder how long it would have taken for them to realise I was gone?"

The last sentence was said softly and he had no doubt that he probably wasn't meant to hear it.

"Jubilee…we should have known immediately. _I_ should have known immediately. I had two agents assigned to you 24/7."

Even in her drug haze, Jubilee could have a fearsome stare. He shifted uncomfortably beneath her gaze and began to play nervously with the edge of one of the sheets.

"You had me tailed?!"

Fury gave a half smile, which faded slightly after a second.

"And I didn't notice?! Jeeze, I deserve to have the crap beaten out of me for that one." She rolled her eyes in dismay at herself.

Fury shook his head grudgingly. "Nah, kid. You don't. I said I had two guys _assigned_ to tail you. I didn't say that they did their job. I talked to them this morning. They said that last night you went clubbing, and you were currently having coffee with a friend from college."

"Gee, I hope I had fun. Christ, I haven't gone clubbing in months!" Suddenly her eyes widened and she went to sit up, only to find herself too weak to do so. "I was supposed to have a Physics exam! Oh, man! I can't believe this! An entire year of Uni wasted! I'm missing all of my exams!"

"You can repeat-"

"REPEAT! Do you think I like going to school?! Having to deal with those vapid, self obsessed air heads that think I'm 'One of Them' just 'cos I do gymnastics? That I enjoy listening to Professors that claim to be leaders in their fields, only they haven't got a clue and are teaching outmoded and outdated theories-"

XXXXX

Outside the door to the room, the newly arrived Charles and Emma shared a look with Jean and Hank who had been outside listening to the entire conversation.

"At least we know there was no brain damage." Emma remarked dryly, leaning against the wall as they listened to Jubilee's voice raise even higher as she described the conditions of her dorm room – which was on campus. The only way Xavier had allowed her to go to college.

"Emma, that was uncalled for."

Hank hid a smile as he pushed his way into the room. The fights between the acerbic headmistress and her charge had been legendary, as had the retaliation from Jubilee. But no matter how much aggravation they had caused each other through the years, the look on her face on the vid-screen as Scott told her what had happened spoke volumes, as did the look on Jubilee's face when Emma walked in behind him. Her eyes widened and a momentary look of incredible vulnerability flitted across her face before the medication induced glaze took over once more.

"Hey Frostie."

"Jubilation." Emma gave her a nod, coming to stand by the head of the bed. "Must you always get yourself into trouble?"

Jubilee shifted slightly in the bed so that she could look at Emma properly. "What can I say, Frostie, it's a gift. And I learned from the best." With that she let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes again. Emma watched her for a few moments, keeping her own council before announcing; "I'm going to take that as a compliment."


End file.
